The Offense of the Cross
Will you trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ?
George Wright
Nov 3, 2019 40m
In this sermon Pastor George Wright asks, will you trust in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, or will you try in vain to earn your way to God with obedience? He shares scripture from Galatians chapter 5 to teach us the eternal importance of this choice. Video recorded at Columbia, South Carolina.
TranscriptionmessageRegarding Grammar:
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
This is a transcription of the sermon. People speak differently than they write, and there are common colloquialisms in this transcript that sound good when spoken, and look like bad grammar when written.
George Wright: 00:00 I would encourage you to turn in your Bible now to Galatians 5. If you are new to Shandon, or perhaps you don't have a Bible with you, or you're not able to pull up the Bible app on your phone, we've got Bibles spread out all around the room. And we would encourage you to go ahead and grab one of those so that you can see for yourself what the word of God is saying as we walk through this time together. Galatians chapter 5 is all about the gift of freedom in Christ, and we're in week three of this series just walking through these tremendous verses in this amazing deep theological statement of the scripture that if you are in Christ, you have found the gift of freedom. Christ has come to set us free, and as we hear this good news, as we are reminded of what Christ has done, as we lift our voices like we have today to sing and worship in response to this amazing gift of freedom, the scripture then comes right back in and reminds us with a warning. So do not go back, the word of God says, do not go back to the bondage of performance driven faith. Do not go back to making this about your works and what you're doing in your striving, look to Jesus.
George Wright: 01:24 And so as we step back into the word of God this morning, we pick up in verse 7 right where we left off last week of Galatians 5, and we see some very strong words, some very important words. In fact, you could make the case that Galatians 5 presents some of the most important words to those who are striving to live the Christian life. If you're here today wanting to understand what does it mean to live the life of a Jesus follower, Galatians 5 gives us beautiful, beautiful insights. I'd like to ask you to stand with me as I read these verses. And we stand all around the room, if you're joining us online, we stand here in the worship center as we read this opening scripture so that we can be reminded, the word of God is our foundation, it is what we stand upon, our authority. And the word of God reveals to us what God says is right and good and true. So this is the word of God through the apostle Paul, divinely inspired as he writes this letter to the church in Galatia, and he says this, "You are running well, so who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. So I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine." Paul writes, "And the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision," And we'll talk about that. "why am I still being persecuted?" Paul writes, "In that case the offense of the cross has been removed."
George Wright: 03:18 Before we pray, as we consider God's word, this message is called the offense of the cross. I want you to know as we stand together here this morning, I believe with all of my hearts that the cross of Jesus Christ is offensive, and it will offend some of you today, but it is because the love of God is pursuing you. So let's ask God to speak into our lives that we would hear, that we would see, what he wants us to hear and see this morning. Let's pray. Father, we stand before you now after declaring these great truths about who you are through song, and now reading this beautiful proclamation of what you've done in your word. We stand before you asking you in the power of your Holy Spirit to speak into our lives, we need to hear from you. There is so much fighting for our attention, there are so many voices wanting us to listen, we need to hear your voice. And so I pray that you, the most high God, would speak in power as only you can that we might see and understand with greater clarity who you are and what you have done to invite us to freedom. Use this time for your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated.
George Wright: 05:02 As we continue this morning in this study of Galatians chapter 5, this is a challenging message, these are very challenging words. They're given to us through the word of God here in these verses. The apostle Paul is confronting one of the biggest barriers in the life of the church that stands in the way of people understanding and truly living in the freedom of the gospel. What is this big barrier that is being confronted? We've talked about it a little bit over the first couple of weeks in this series, there's this tendency, this default mode of the human heart that we have, to make our life and our faith all about our performance. To mistakenly believe that the only way that we can be called righteous in the sight of God is if we do enough good things, if we do enough righteousness through our deeds. But the gospel of Jesus Christ declares something very, very different. The gospel of Jesus Christ says, no matter how much good you do, you can never be good enough to measure up to the standard of God. The gospel of Jesus Christ says, it is only through Jesus, who has done for you and done for me what we can never do for ourselves, that we can be called righteous in the sight of God. And yet even at hearing that good news, many of us begin to think about all the things that we need to do to try and prove that we are worthy of receiving God's love.
George Wright: 06:55 And so the apostle Paul is addressing this issue, and he's addressing this barrier, this barrier that we call legalism. Legalism is a tricky issue, because legalism is all about living a life of obedience. And legalism often starts with very good intentions, it flows out of a desire to live a good life and to live a righteous life. Legalism starts with this desire to do the right thing, but the obedience that legalism promotes and points to misses the point all together. You see, legalism says, if you follow these rules, you will be righteous. And legalism places more emphasis on the works of man than on the finished work of Jesus Christ. It is the gospel that says, no matter how committed you are to following the rules, no matter how committed you are to living a life of obedience, you will never be righteous on your own.
George Wright: 08:15 So right up front we need to ask a very important question. What is the point of our obedience? What is the point of striving to live the right way? What is the point of trying to do the right thing? Because the word of God reminds us over and over again, we talked about this last week and we're going to spend a lot of time talking about this next week in Galatians 5, obedience to the law is of the utmost importance. Striving to live a life of obedience is a good thing. The law is good, the law is beautiful because the law shows us God's best for our lives. Please don't miss this, this is central to the message of freedom, that is the good news of the gospel. The law is good, but the law is incapable of saving us because none of us can come close to perfectly fulfilling the law of God. So what is the point of our obedience? Are we striving to live an obedient life so that we can be made right with God through our performance, or are we striving to live an obedient life because we have been made right with God through Christ's perfect performance for us? Legalism puts the focus on man, and the gospel puts the focus on Jesus. What's the points of the obedience in your life? These lines can get very, very blurry very, very quickly. And because the lines between legalism and the gospel can become so blurry so quickly, the apostle Paul uses some of the strongest language in the entire New Testament to make sure we understand the points in these verses. So as we walk through verses 7 all the way through verse 12 is where we're going to end this morning, we are seeing the damaging results of legalism as the apostle Paul is pleading with the church to stay rooted and grounded in the gospel, to stay rooted and grounded in the freedom of Christ. And over and over again, the word of God is showing us why legalism just won't work.
George Wright: 11:06 So let's look back at Galatians 5 verse 7 it says, "You are running well, so who hindered you, who hindered you from obeying the truth?" The first reason why legalism will not work for you or for me, to cause us to become righteous in the sight of God, is because legalism hinders the truth. Legalism hinders the truth. The word of God is saying, don't forget the good news of the gospel that is setting you free. Don't forget what God has done for you through Christ that you can never for yourself. Paul is saying here in verse 7, why would you walk away from this beautiful invitation of freedom? He knows, he knows the end result of a life that is rooted and grounded in the good news of the gospel will always be freedom. That is the end result of building your life on the good news of what Christ has done. Paul also knows that the end results of a life that is rooted and grounded in legalism will be a very different outcome. The end result of a life rooted and grounded in legalism will either be a life of superiority, we talked about this last week, a life of self-righteousness that says, look at all that I'm doing that's better than what everyone else is doing, or it will be a life of shame. Superiority, or shame. When you follow the rules of legalism, and you follow them effectively, you will begin to feel superior to others and you will begin to feel entitled before God. God, look at all that I've done for you, so here's what you have to do for me. God, look at all that I've accomplished for you, so here's what you owe me. This is the posture of the Pharisees in the scripture, the Pharisees who were looking at every opportunity he to destroy Jesus. But if you cannot live up to the standard of legalism, you will begin to feel totally ashamed because you are not good enough. This is why many people in fact walk away from the church, I don't feel good enough to be there, I can't keep up with all these rules that everyone else seems to be following. I've tried, but I just know I can't do it. And so as a result, we begin to walk in shame, we begin to cover up our failures, we refuse to be honest about our needs, and we start to put on a show., and the show tries to demonstrates that we are better than we truly are. This is the way of the hypocrites. Does this describe the way our life is being lived? Both superiority and shame prevent us from truly seeing, and embracing, and trusting, and living in the freedom of the gospel.
George Wright: 14:56 We've said this before in this series, but these verses in Galatians 5 are of the utmost importance because they are reminding us that it is possible to be totally immersed in religious culture, and at the same time totally miss the gospel. It is possible to be completely committed to the church and to religious works and religious deeds, and totally miss the gift of freedom in Christ. And Paul is saying, don't forget, don't forget, what Christ has done, don't abandon the gospel for the rules of man, fix your eyes on Jesus. John chapter 8, Jesus makes this beautiful statement, he says in verse 31, If you abide in my word." My word, not the words of man, but the word of God. "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples," Verse 32, "and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." That's the good news of what Christ has done. "It is for freedom that Christ set us free.", Galatians 5:1. Jesus is passionate about your freedom, cling to his words and trust in the freedom he provides. Legalism hinders this truth.
George Wright: 16:35 But secondly, we go back to Galatians 5 verses 8 and 9, and we see this, that the apostle Paul writes, "This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Why does legalism not work? Because legalism places more authority on the words of men, than on the word of God. Paul says what you are living if you're living a performance driven faith, if you're trying to prove your worthiness to God, that's not coming from the one who is called you. That's not coming from Christ, that's coming from men who are adding to what the word of God has said. Don't miss this beautiful invitation to freedom, the call to get your life together so that God will love you, that's not a call from Jesus at all. The call to check all the religious boxes so that you will be good enough for God, that is not the call of Jesus. No, the call of Jesus is to lay down the performance driven faith, to lay down what we believe we can do to save ourselves, and to trust in the finished work of his perfect performance. Paul is saying here, keep the gospel central, it is the only way that true freedom will be found.
George Wright: 18:17 Let me read to you a quote from pastor J.D. Greear's most recent book, it's called, Gospel Above All. J.D. is the current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and he writes this, "None of our goals for personal growth will take off without the gospel. None of our calls for renewal will endure if they are not grounded in the gospel. The fire to do, in the Christian life, comes only from being soaked in the fuel of what has been done. The water of life necessary to do whatever the scriptures command us to do flows only from the finished work of Christ. Every story, every command, every principle in scripture should point to the finished work of Christ. If we don't do this, we remove the life from the book of life."
George Wright: 19:13 This is why the apostle Paul writes, Galatians 5:9, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." This is not the only place in Paul's letters that this statement shows up. In fact, I want to ask you to turn over to First Corinthians chapter 5, First Corinthians chapter 5. What does this mean, a little leaven leavens the whole lump? First Corinthians 5:6 and 7, the scripture says this, "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." Paul's giving us some insight there, what is this mean? A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Well, Paul is talking about what has become custom in the Jewish faith, in the Jewish practice, in the observance of Passover. There is the feast of the unleavened bread, and there's the observance of Passover where unleavened bread would be served as a part of this celebration. Why would this unleavened bread be served, and why was it so important? Because this unleavened bread reminded the Jewish people of the great Exodus that God brought them out of Egypt. That God had done for them what they could never do for themselves. Are you hearing that message? That God rescued them, that God saved them, they could not save themselves. And so as they ate this unleavened bread, as they remember this amazing gift of the Exodus, they were reminded of God's provision, they were reminded of the incredible work of grace that God had given them. They took this so seriously that when they were preparing to observe the Passover meal, they would sweep every nook and cranny of their house, floor to ceiling would be clean to make sure that all the leaven would be removed from the house., so that there was no chance that one little speck of leaven would contaminate the unleavened bread. They wanted to make sure that they could be clearly reminded of what God had done that they can never do. Paul is using this language to remind us of the beauty of the gospel, and to remind us that just a little hint of legalism can start to take us away from the good news of freedom in Christ, and just a little hit of making your faith about your performance starts to take you away from the good news of the gospel. God has done for you what you can never do for yourself. Legalism will not work because it places more authority on the words of men, than the word of God.
George Wright: 22:29 But we go back to the text, Galatians 5 verses 10 and 11, Paul says, "I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is." This is a very sobering statement that the word of God lays before us. We're reminded here that legalism will not work, because legalism will be judged for its performance, legalism will be judged for its performance. See, Paul is asking us to consider standing before God on the day of judgment. Don't miss this, this is of the utmost importance. Paul is saying, consider standing before God on the day of judgment, and if you are living your life to try and prove your worth to God based on your performance, based on your works, based on your good deeds, when you stand before God on the day of judgment, you will give an account for your performance. As I stand before you today, I can think of nothing personally more terrifying than to have to stand before God on the day of judgment and give an account for my performance. The word of God is clear, the standard is perfect performance, and I can stand before you today and I can say with a hundred percent confidence and 100% certainty on my best day, I don't come close. I don't want to stand before God and be judged based on what I've done. And Paul is saying, I believe you don't want that either, I believe the reason you are striving so hard to live the right way is you want to stand righteous before God in the day of judgment. So don't miss this Paul says, Paul is saying, if you are promoting a workspace faith, if you are building your life on trying to live up to the standard of legalism, if you're seeking to prove your worth through your performance, you will bear the weight of the judgment of God and I know you don't want that.
George Wright: 25:15 Verse 10, that's why Paul says, I believe that you're going to trust what I'm saying about the gospel because you don't want to bear the weight standing before the judgment seat of God. I know you want to stand before God as one who is approved, I know you want to stand before God as one who is called righteous, and the only way that can happen is if you stand before God, not based on your performance, but stand before God securely in the perfect performance of Jesus Christ, his son. That's how you know you can stand before God on the day of judgment and be called righteous. Paul is saying, I believe you will trust the gospel. Why would you build your life on a faulty system that will never set you free, when you are invited to build your life on the finished work of Christ that promises to set you free now, and promises to set you free in the day of judgment, and promises to set you free for all of eternity? Don't miss the gospel.
George Wright: 26:36 As I was thinking about these strong words in Galatians 5 this week, and preparing for this message, my mind kept going back to Romans chapter 3 over and over again. And so I said, do you know what I want to do at this point in the message is, I just want to read some of these great verses of Romans 3, because they lay the gospel before us with such clarity. So I'd ask you to turn to Romans 3 in your Bible, and let's just listen, just listen to the beautiful declaration of the gospel of Jesus Christ beginning in verse 21, But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." This is the gospel. How will you stand before God on the day of judgment? Will you stand before God and try to boast about all the things that you have done in hopes that he might let you slide in, or will you stand before a perfect holy and righteous judge knowing that the only way you can be righteous in his sight is if you're standing before him not based on your performance at all, but on the perfect performance of Jesus Christ and what he has done for you?
George Wright: 29:33 This is the offense of the cross that the scripture talks about in verse 11. You see the cross of Jesus Christ is offensive to anyone who is seeking to justify themselves apart from the cross, the cross of Jesus Christ is offensive to anyone who is seeking to justify themselves through their performance, it is offensive because the cross humbles us to say there is nothing I can do to stand righteous before God. So God sent his son to die in my place, God sent his son to give His life so that I could be free. The cross is offensive because it declares that the work is finished through Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, and he is the only one by which man can be saved. The great words of the ancient hymn say this, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling." This is the declaration of one who is free. Your performance won't get you there, legalism won't get you there.
George Wright: 31:14 And finally we come to verse 12, Galatians chapter 5 verse 12, one of the most shocking statements in all of the New Testament. The apostle Paul says, "For I wish that those who unsettle you..." Those who are saying, you must work good enough, you must do a enough, you must strive hard enough to be right with God. Those who say the gospel is not enough, Jesus is not enough, you must do more if you want to be right with God. Paul says, "I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves." Probably never wrote that on a card to someone to express your love and devotion, have you? That's a harsh statement. Throughout Galatians 5 the apostle Paul is talking about this issue of circumcision, this is what some were requiring to be made right with God. And so Paul wanting to prove his point uses this shocking statement for a reason, it is his exclamation point as he proclaims the good news of the gospel. And he's saying the problem with the legalist, is the legalist thinks they are closer to God because of all the things they are doing. They think they are more spiritual, and they are more mature, and they are more righteous, because they follow all of these religious rules and build their life on their performance. And Paul is saying, if you want to build your life on your performance, you better go all the way. If you want to build your life on your performance, if you're saying the gospel is not enough, if you're requiring circumcision or any other religious act to make someone right with God, Paul says, okay, if that's what you want to believe, you better take this all away. Don't just cut a little, cut a lot, that's what it says. That's hard to hear. Why would Paul use a statement as strong as this? Please don't miss this, legalism will not work because legalism can't go far enough. It can't go far enough. Legalism says, we are the ones, the legalists are the ones, that really care about the law. And Paul is saying here through God's word, you actually don't care about the law enough. Because if you really cared about the law, you would know that the law demands perfection, but you are acting like some of the law, and following some of the law, is good enough.
George Wright: 34:38 The scripture is saying, how dare you claim to be all about the law, and to love the law, while you are lowering the standards of the law. If you truly love the law, you will recognize that there is nothing you can ever do in your own power, in your own strength, in your own might to uphold the law, and you would fall on your face in humility, begging God for his grace, that is your only hope. Don't act like you're the one that cares so much about the law, when you actually are minimizing the law. So verse 12 is saying, if you're going to build your life on your performance, at least have enough integrity to go all the way. If you want to be approved by God through your performance, you better go all the way. Because the only way to stand justified in the sight of God is through perfection, legalism will not get you there, following the rules will not get you there, attending a church service will not get you there, being religious will not get you there, trying to perform good enough will not get you there, please hear this, but Jesus will. Jesus is the answer, Jesus has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. And the gospel is saying you have been invited to place your life and your eternity in his hands.
George Wright: 36:39 It was for freedom that Christ set us free. If the son sets you free, you are free indeed. His perfect performance has been given for you. Will you trust him? Will you trust that Jesus has done for you what you can never do for yourself? This is the invitation of the gospel. And I believe that as we gather here this morning, there are some who need to trust and receive this incredible gift that comes through Jesus Christ alone. So as we pray, and as we prepare our hearts to close the service through a moment of worship, we want to invite you to trust your life to Jesus Christ. Some of you have been in church, or around church, or around religion your whole life, and yet you've never trusted your life to Jesus. It's been all about what you're trying to do to be good enough for God. Let today be the day that you trust that Jesus Christ has done enough to set you free.
George Wright: 38:07 Let me pray. Father God, we love you, and we are thankful for your word. These words are challenging. These words are hard. These words, if we're honest, step on our toes. But these words we need to hear. And so I pray, Lord God, for those who have been perhaps around religion for all of their life, but they've never experienced the freedom, the gospel, they've never experienced the freedom of life in Christ. I pray that today would be the day they would say, Jesus, I'm ready to follow you. I'm ready to trust you at your word. I don't want to make my life about me. I don't want to stand before a Holy God and have to give an account for what I tried to do. I want to stand before a Holy God and be free. And so I'm trusting what you have done for me, that I can never do, through the gift of Jesus Christ. Thank you for his perfect life. Thank you for his sacrificial death. Thank you for his power to defeat sin and death through the resurrection. I am trusting Jesus. Forgive me of my sin, I'm ready to follow you. Father, we praise you for the gift of salvation, and for the good news gospel, and what you are doing here in the life of our church as so many are experiencing freedom in Christ. We praise you. We pray, Lord God, that we would live as a people who have been set free, that we would not walk away from this incredible gift of freedom, that we would trust in you. The word of God would have more authority in our life than the words of men. That we would trust that you have done enough, because you have set us free. We worship you now. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Recorded in Columbia, South Carolina.
George Wright: 01:24 And so as we step back into the word of God this morning, we pick up in verse 7 right where we left off last week of Galatians 5, and we see some very strong words, some very important words. In fact, you could make the case that Galatians 5 presents some of the most important words to those who are striving to live the Christian life. If you're here today wanting to understand what does it mean to live the life of a Jesus follower, Galatians 5 gives us beautiful, beautiful insights. I'd like to ask you to stand with me as I read these verses. And we stand all around the room, if you're joining us online, we stand here in the worship center as we read this opening scripture so that we can be reminded, the word of God is our foundation, it is what we stand upon, our authority. And the word of God reveals to us what God says is right and good and true. So this is the word of God through the apostle Paul, divinely inspired as he writes this letter to the church in Galatia, and he says this, "You are running well, so who hindered you from obeying the truth? This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. So I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine." Paul writes, "And the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision," And we'll talk about that. "why am I still being persecuted?" Paul writes, "In that case the offense of the cross has been removed."
George Wright: 03:18 Before we pray, as we consider God's word, this message is called the offense of the cross. I want you to know as we stand together here this morning, I believe with all of my hearts that the cross of Jesus Christ is offensive, and it will offend some of you today, but it is because the love of God is pursuing you. So let's ask God to speak into our lives that we would hear, that we would see, what he wants us to hear and see this morning. Let's pray. Father, we stand before you now after declaring these great truths about who you are through song, and now reading this beautiful proclamation of what you've done in your word. We stand before you asking you in the power of your Holy Spirit to speak into our lives, we need to hear from you. There is so much fighting for our attention, there are so many voices wanting us to listen, we need to hear your voice. And so I pray that you, the most high God, would speak in power as only you can that we might see and understand with greater clarity who you are and what you have done to invite us to freedom. Use this time for your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. Amen. You may be seated.
George Wright: 05:02 As we continue this morning in this study of Galatians chapter 5, this is a challenging message, these are very challenging words. They're given to us through the word of God here in these verses. The apostle Paul is confronting one of the biggest barriers in the life of the church that stands in the way of people understanding and truly living in the freedom of the gospel. What is this big barrier that is being confronted? We've talked about it a little bit over the first couple of weeks in this series, there's this tendency, this default mode of the human heart that we have, to make our life and our faith all about our performance. To mistakenly believe that the only way that we can be called righteous in the sight of God is if we do enough good things, if we do enough righteousness through our deeds. But the gospel of Jesus Christ declares something very, very different. The gospel of Jesus Christ says, no matter how much good you do, you can never be good enough to measure up to the standard of God. The gospel of Jesus Christ says, it is only through Jesus, who has done for you and done for me what we can never do for ourselves, that we can be called righteous in the sight of God. And yet even at hearing that good news, many of us begin to think about all the things that we need to do to try and prove that we are worthy of receiving God's love.
George Wright: 06:55 And so the apostle Paul is addressing this issue, and he's addressing this barrier, this barrier that we call legalism. Legalism is a tricky issue, because legalism is all about living a life of obedience. And legalism often starts with very good intentions, it flows out of a desire to live a good life and to live a righteous life. Legalism starts with this desire to do the right thing, but the obedience that legalism promotes and points to misses the point all together. You see, legalism says, if you follow these rules, you will be righteous. And legalism places more emphasis on the works of man than on the finished work of Jesus Christ. It is the gospel that says, no matter how committed you are to following the rules, no matter how committed you are to living a life of obedience, you will never be righteous on your own.
George Wright: 08:15 So right up front we need to ask a very important question. What is the point of our obedience? What is the point of striving to live the right way? What is the point of trying to do the right thing? Because the word of God reminds us over and over again, we talked about this last week and we're going to spend a lot of time talking about this next week in Galatians 5, obedience to the law is of the utmost importance. Striving to live a life of obedience is a good thing. The law is good, the law is beautiful because the law shows us God's best for our lives. Please don't miss this, this is central to the message of freedom, that is the good news of the gospel. The law is good, but the law is incapable of saving us because none of us can come close to perfectly fulfilling the law of God. So what is the point of our obedience? Are we striving to live an obedient life so that we can be made right with God through our performance, or are we striving to live an obedient life because we have been made right with God through Christ's perfect performance for us? Legalism puts the focus on man, and the gospel puts the focus on Jesus. What's the points of the obedience in your life? These lines can get very, very blurry very, very quickly. And because the lines between legalism and the gospel can become so blurry so quickly, the apostle Paul uses some of the strongest language in the entire New Testament to make sure we understand the points in these verses. So as we walk through verses 7 all the way through verse 12 is where we're going to end this morning, we are seeing the damaging results of legalism as the apostle Paul is pleading with the church to stay rooted and grounded in the gospel, to stay rooted and grounded in the freedom of Christ. And over and over again, the word of God is showing us why legalism just won't work.
George Wright: 11:06 So let's look back at Galatians 5 verse 7 it says, "You are running well, so who hindered you, who hindered you from obeying the truth?" The first reason why legalism will not work for you or for me, to cause us to become righteous in the sight of God, is because legalism hinders the truth. Legalism hinders the truth. The word of God is saying, don't forget the good news of the gospel that is setting you free. Don't forget what God has done for you through Christ that you can never for yourself. Paul is saying here in verse 7, why would you walk away from this beautiful invitation of freedom? He knows, he knows the end result of a life that is rooted and grounded in the good news of the gospel will always be freedom. That is the end result of building your life on the good news of what Christ has done. Paul also knows that the end results of a life that is rooted and grounded in legalism will be a very different outcome. The end result of a life rooted and grounded in legalism will either be a life of superiority, we talked about this last week, a life of self-righteousness that says, look at all that I'm doing that's better than what everyone else is doing, or it will be a life of shame. Superiority, or shame. When you follow the rules of legalism, and you follow them effectively, you will begin to feel superior to others and you will begin to feel entitled before God. God, look at all that I've done for you, so here's what you have to do for me. God, look at all that I've accomplished for you, so here's what you owe me. This is the posture of the Pharisees in the scripture, the Pharisees who were looking at every opportunity he to destroy Jesus. But if you cannot live up to the standard of legalism, you will begin to feel totally ashamed because you are not good enough. This is why many people in fact walk away from the church, I don't feel good enough to be there, I can't keep up with all these rules that everyone else seems to be following. I've tried, but I just know I can't do it. And so as a result, we begin to walk in shame, we begin to cover up our failures, we refuse to be honest about our needs, and we start to put on a show., and the show tries to demonstrates that we are better than we truly are. This is the way of the hypocrites. Does this describe the way our life is being lived? Both superiority and shame prevent us from truly seeing, and embracing, and trusting, and living in the freedom of the gospel.
George Wright: 14:56 We've said this before in this series, but these verses in Galatians 5 are of the utmost importance because they are reminding us that it is possible to be totally immersed in religious culture, and at the same time totally miss the gospel. It is possible to be completely committed to the church and to religious works and religious deeds, and totally miss the gift of freedom in Christ. And Paul is saying, don't forget, don't forget, what Christ has done, don't abandon the gospel for the rules of man, fix your eyes on Jesus. John chapter 8, Jesus makes this beautiful statement, he says in verse 31, If you abide in my word." My word, not the words of man, but the word of God. "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples," Verse 32, "and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." That's the good news of what Christ has done. "It is for freedom that Christ set us free.", Galatians 5:1. Jesus is passionate about your freedom, cling to his words and trust in the freedom he provides. Legalism hinders this truth.
George Wright: 16:35 But secondly, we go back to Galatians 5 verses 8 and 9, and we see this, that the apostle Paul writes, "This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump." Why does legalism not work? Because legalism places more authority on the words of men, than on the word of God. Paul says what you are living if you're living a performance driven faith, if you're trying to prove your worthiness to God, that's not coming from the one who is called you. That's not coming from Christ, that's coming from men who are adding to what the word of God has said. Don't miss this beautiful invitation to freedom, the call to get your life together so that God will love you, that's not a call from Jesus at all. The call to check all the religious boxes so that you will be good enough for God, that is not the call of Jesus. No, the call of Jesus is to lay down the performance driven faith, to lay down what we believe we can do to save ourselves, and to trust in the finished work of his perfect performance. Paul is saying here, keep the gospel central, it is the only way that true freedom will be found.
George Wright: 18:17 Let me read to you a quote from pastor J.D. Greear's most recent book, it's called, Gospel Above All. J.D. is the current president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and he writes this, "None of our goals for personal growth will take off without the gospel. None of our calls for renewal will endure if they are not grounded in the gospel. The fire to do, in the Christian life, comes only from being soaked in the fuel of what has been done. The water of life necessary to do whatever the scriptures command us to do flows only from the finished work of Christ. Every story, every command, every principle in scripture should point to the finished work of Christ. If we don't do this, we remove the life from the book of life."
George Wright: 19:13 This is why the apostle Paul writes, Galatians 5:9, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." This is not the only place in Paul's letters that this statement shows up. In fact, I want to ask you to turn over to First Corinthians chapter 5, First Corinthians chapter 5. What does this mean, a little leaven leavens the whole lump? First Corinthians 5:6 and 7, the scripture says this, "Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed." Paul's giving us some insight there, what is this mean? A little leaven leavens the whole lump. Well, Paul is talking about what has become custom in the Jewish faith, in the Jewish practice, in the observance of Passover. There is the feast of the unleavened bread, and there's the observance of Passover where unleavened bread would be served as a part of this celebration. Why would this unleavened bread be served, and why was it so important? Because this unleavened bread reminded the Jewish people of the great Exodus that God brought them out of Egypt. That God had done for them what they could never do for themselves. Are you hearing that message? That God rescued them, that God saved them, they could not save themselves. And so as they ate this unleavened bread, as they remember this amazing gift of the Exodus, they were reminded of God's provision, they were reminded of the incredible work of grace that God had given them. They took this so seriously that when they were preparing to observe the Passover meal, they would sweep every nook and cranny of their house, floor to ceiling would be clean to make sure that all the leaven would be removed from the house., so that there was no chance that one little speck of leaven would contaminate the unleavened bread. They wanted to make sure that they could be clearly reminded of what God had done that they can never do. Paul is using this language to remind us of the beauty of the gospel, and to remind us that just a little hint of legalism can start to take us away from the good news of freedom in Christ, and just a little hit of making your faith about your performance starts to take you away from the good news of the gospel. God has done for you what you can never do for yourself. Legalism will not work because it places more authority on the words of men, than the word of God.
George Wright: 22:29 But we go back to the text, Galatians 5 verses 10 and 11, Paul says, "I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view than mine, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is." This is a very sobering statement that the word of God lays before us. We're reminded here that legalism will not work, because legalism will be judged for its performance, legalism will be judged for its performance. See, Paul is asking us to consider standing before God on the day of judgment. Don't miss this, this is of the utmost importance. Paul is saying, consider standing before God on the day of judgment, and if you are living your life to try and prove your worth to God based on your performance, based on your works, based on your good deeds, when you stand before God on the day of judgment, you will give an account for your performance. As I stand before you today, I can think of nothing personally more terrifying than to have to stand before God on the day of judgment and give an account for my performance. The word of God is clear, the standard is perfect performance, and I can stand before you today and I can say with a hundred percent confidence and 100% certainty on my best day, I don't come close. I don't want to stand before God and be judged based on what I've done. And Paul is saying, I believe you don't want that either, I believe the reason you are striving so hard to live the right way is you want to stand righteous before God in the day of judgment. So don't miss this Paul says, Paul is saying, if you are promoting a workspace faith, if you are building your life on trying to live up to the standard of legalism, if you're seeking to prove your worth through your performance, you will bear the weight of the judgment of God and I know you don't want that.
George Wright: 25:15 Verse 10, that's why Paul says, I believe that you're going to trust what I'm saying about the gospel because you don't want to bear the weight standing before the judgment seat of God. I know you want to stand before God as one who is approved, I know you want to stand before God as one who is called righteous, and the only way that can happen is if you stand before God, not based on your performance, but stand before God securely in the perfect performance of Jesus Christ, his son. That's how you know you can stand before God on the day of judgment and be called righteous. Paul is saying, I believe you will trust the gospel. Why would you build your life on a faulty system that will never set you free, when you are invited to build your life on the finished work of Christ that promises to set you free now, and promises to set you free in the day of judgment, and promises to set you free for all of eternity? Don't miss the gospel.
George Wright: 26:36 As I was thinking about these strong words in Galatians 5 this week, and preparing for this message, my mind kept going back to Romans chapter 3 over and over again. And so I said, do you know what I want to do at this point in the message is, I just want to read some of these great verses of Romans 3, because they lay the gospel before us with such clarity. So I'd ask you to turn to Romans 3 in your Bible, and let's just listen, just listen to the beautiful declaration of the gospel of Jesus Christ beginning in verse 21, But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law." This is the gospel. How will you stand before God on the day of judgment? Will you stand before God and try to boast about all the things that you have done in hopes that he might let you slide in, or will you stand before a perfect holy and righteous judge knowing that the only way you can be righteous in his sight is if you're standing before him not based on your performance at all, but on the perfect performance of Jesus Christ and what he has done for you?
George Wright: 29:33 This is the offense of the cross that the scripture talks about in verse 11. You see the cross of Jesus Christ is offensive to anyone who is seeking to justify themselves apart from the cross, the cross of Jesus Christ is offensive to anyone who is seeking to justify themselves through their performance, it is offensive because the cross humbles us to say there is nothing I can do to stand righteous before God. So God sent his son to die in my place, God sent his son to give His life so that I could be free. The cross is offensive because it declares that the work is finished through Jesus Christ and his death on the cross, and he is the only one by which man can be saved. The great words of the ancient hymn say this, "Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling." This is the declaration of one who is free. Your performance won't get you there, legalism won't get you there.
George Wright: 31:14 And finally we come to verse 12, Galatians chapter 5 verse 12, one of the most shocking statements in all of the New Testament. The apostle Paul says, "For I wish that those who unsettle you..." Those who are saying, you must work good enough, you must do a enough, you must strive hard enough to be right with God. Those who say the gospel is not enough, Jesus is not enough, you must do more if you want to be right with God. Paul says, "I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves." Probably never wrote that on a card to someone to express your love and devotion, have you? That's a harsh statement. Throughout Galatians 5 the apostle Paul is talking about this issue of circumcision, this is what some were requiring to be made right with God. And so Paul wanting to prove his point uses this shocking statement for a reason, it is his exclamation point as he proclaims the good news of the gospel. And he's saying the problem with the legalist, is the legalist thinks they are closer to God because of all the things they are doing. They think they are more spiritual, and they are more mature, and they are more righteous, because they follow all of these religious rules and build their life on their performance. And Paul is saying, if you want to build your life on your performance, you better go all the way. If you want to build your life on your performance, if you're saying the gospel is not enough, if you're requiring circumcision or any other religious act to make someone right with God, Paul says, okay, if that's what you want to believe, you better take this all away. Don't just cut a little, cut a lot, that's what it says. That's hard to hear. Why would Paul use a statement as strong as this? Please don't miss this, legalism will not work because legalism can't go far enough. It can't go far enough. Legalism says, we are the ones, the legalists are the ones, that really care about the law. And Paul is saying here through God's word, you actually don't care about the law enough. Because if you really cared about the law, you would know that the law demands perfection, but you are acting like some of the law, and following some of the law, is good enough.
George Wright: 34:38 The scripture is saying, how dare you claim to be all about the law, and to love the law, while you are lowering the standards of the law. If you truly love the law, you will recognize that there is nothing you can ever do in your own power, in your own strength, in your own might to uphold the law, and you would fall on your face in humility, begging God for his grace, that is your only hope. Don't act like you're the one that cares so much about the law, when you actually are minimizing the law. So verse 12 is saying, if you're going to build your life on your performance, at least have enough integrity to go all the way. If you want to be approved by God through your performance, you better go all the way. Because the only way to stand justified in the sight of God is through perfection, legalism will not get you there, following the rules will not get you there, attending a church service will not get you there, being religious will not get you there, trying to perform good enough will not get you there, please hear this, but Jesus will. Jesus is the answer, Jesus has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. And the gospel is saying you have been invited to place your life and your eternity in his hands.
George Wright: 36:39 It was for freedom that Christ set us free. If the son sets you free, you are free indeed. His perfect performance has been given for you. Will you trust him? Will you trust that Jesus has done for you what you can never do for yourself? This is the invitation of the gospel. And I believe that as we gather here this morning, there are some who need to trust and receive this incredible gift that comes through Jesus Christ alone. So as we pray, and as we prepare our hearts to close the service through a moment of worship, we want to invite you to trust your life to Jesus Christ. Some of you have been in church, or around church, or around religion your whole life, and yet you've never trusted your life to Jesus. It's been all about what you're trying to do to be good enough for God. Let today be the day that you trust that Jesus Christ has done enough to set you free.
George Wright: 38:07 Let me pray. Father God, we love you, and we are thankful for your word. These words are challenging. These words are hard. These words, if we're honest, step on our toes. But these words we need to hear. And so I pray, Lord God, for those who have been perhaps around religion for all of their life, but they've never experienced the freedom, the gospel, they've never experienced the freedom of life in Christ. I pray that today would be the day they would say, Jesus, I'm ready to follow you. I'm ready to trust you at your word. I don't want to make my life about me. I don't want to stand before a Holy God and have to give an account for what I tried to do. I want to stand before a Holy God and be free. And so I'm trusting what you have done for me, that I can never do, through the gift of Jesus Christ. Thank you for his perfect life. Thank you for his sacrificial death. Thank you for his power to defeat sin and death through the resurrection. I am trusting Jesus. Forgive me of my sin, I'm ready to follow you. Father, we praise you for the gift of salvation, and for the good news gospel, and what you are doing here in the life of our church as so many are experiencing freedom in Christ. We praise you. We pray, Lord God, that we would live as a people who have been set free, that we would not walk away from this incredible gift of freedom, that we would trust in you. The word of God would have more authority in our life than the words of men. That we would trust that you have done enough, because you have set us free. We worship you now. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Recorded in Columbia, South Carolina.
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